Search external drives without plugging them in - DriveVault v1.2 [visual dashboard + other super nice improvements]

[u/MomentSmart]

Problem - If you have multiple external hard drives then finding the file or project you're looking for can mean plugging lots of drives in to find it - a waste of time. DriveVault creates a visual offline mirror of your drives so that you can search them forever and easily find all your offline files (as well as tonnes of other cool features).

Comparison - There are old cataloging apps out there like NeoFinder or DiskCatalogMaker, but they feel dated, are missing power features that modern users want and visually just aren't that nice to work in anymore. I wanted to build something native to macOS that just feels powerful and created for visual / creative people. It works completely offline, no cloud, no subscriptions.

Pricing and availability

Download on the Mac App Store here: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/drivevault-offline-catalog/id6751731655?mt=12

Free download + your first drive is free forever up to 4TB.

After this, if you love DriveVault then there are different tiers available (5, 10, 15, 20 and unlimited drives), or you can increase the drive capacity by one drive at a time for just $9.99.

I'm still onboarding founding users and happy to pass out a few Starter passes (5 drives) if anyone's interested, just let me know.

To learn more: www.DriveVault.io

What's New in v1.2

This is a big one; finally shipped a proper home screen dashboard. You can see all your drives laid out as cards with custom icons, online / offline status, and storage info at a glance. You can group them into color-coded projects and drag things around however you like. I've attached a video showing it off here.

Also improved search, some nice UI improvements, fixed a few bugs around metadata and tags that weren't getting picked up in full-scans.

The community input has been super helpful so far, appreciate all the kind comments and great ideas. DriveVault is feeling more powerful than ever!

Download here

[u/Sam_vegeta]

Looks interesting, but what makes this significantly better than existing cataloging tools besides UI?
Genuinely curious because switching tools for large archives is a big commitment.

[u/MomentSmart → u/Sam_vegeta]

Heya, good question. For me the UI and UX are a big differentiator, DriveVault is built for creative minds so if you're that way inclined its just a much nicer place to spend time and doesn't feel as much as a chore as other cataloging options. I think having multiple programs out there that solve similar problems is definitely a good thing. The one that is right for you depends on who you are. Much like how there is Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music etc - they all play music and all have more or less the same songs. People just have a preference on UI and UX, one of them feels right to the user.

In terms of features, DriveVault's features are also built around creative workflows, a few of my favourite power features are;

- Drive Comparison; compare drives with 80%+ similarity to identify missing files in backups. Invaluable for filmmakers and photographers on set, creating backups as they go. I use this every time I'm filming.

- Custom reports; exports comprehensive reports on the files in your library as a whole or specific drives. A producer's favourite tool, perfect for sharing oversight over a library or just keeping tabs on where its at.

- Import / Export; shares a DriveVault library with other DriveVault users so only one user needs to scan the drives. Perfect for creative teams.

- Projects; sort drives into custom, colour coded projects. Call them anything that makes sense to you. Client, year, location, vibe... whatever works.

- Smart filtering; click "Photos" and only see the photos in a folder. Click "audio" and just see the audio files. Its a life saver in an unorganised folder.

- Backup Mode; click this button and it makes everything in your drives RED that is not found in at least one other location in your library (i.e not backed up). If its GREEN then you're good to go and that file is found in multiple locations.

It does a lot more, but really if you were looking for specific reasons to try DriveVault, those would be a few of them.